I have been told many times that in order to have balance in my life, I need to take on hobbies outside of music. After a photo that a friend posted of a recent headboard project made out of reclaimed wood, I thought I would give it a go. I'm not sure what is next, but I plan to keep building when I can.

The picture to the left is the pallet in it's "natural' state.

The first step is to remove the planks from the beams. That took a little time upfront, but these boards have the kind of character that I was looking for. I eventually pulled three pallets apart in the search for enough panels to fill up the space I needed.

The next step was to frame up the planks with oak rails and poplar framework on the inside. These were held together with construction adhesive and 2 inch nails.

The next step was to add 1x3 oak legs on front and back with 1x2 poplar sandwiched in between. It's starting to take shape!

I goofed on a couple of measurements (rookie mistake) and instead of checking my bracing to make sure it was rigid, I decided to lop off an inch at the top of the legs. Luckily the 1x3 oak trim piece and the 2x4 on the top rail covered up my mistakes. I ended up adding quite a bit of bracing to the back side to make the frame more stiff.

Here it is, sanded down with very coarse 40 grit sand paper on my orbital sander, followed up with 150 grit to smooth things out.

The next (and final) step will be to stain it with a nice ebony stain, sanded in between, and followed up with a couple of coats of polyurethane to keep things smooth when connected to the bed. More projects to come!!!!